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My 94 F150 that is 4WD bolts thru the skidplate. The only difference between my setup and the setups in Chris' pics are the rear links....the 4WD links are shaped differently and are different length.
I've torn apart a 'couple' of 87 - 91 Broncos and F150's; they all had the front bar attached to frame tabs, if equipped with anti-sway. Mostly I take apart 92 to 96 though, and every one so far has had the bar mounted to the engine skid plate; 2WD, 4WD and Bronco.I haven't seen every configuration of every truck of course, but I think mostly they were attached that way after 91. I have been wrong more than once though.
Anyway, - that skid plate is a good stiffener whether you have a bar or not. The frame can definitely use the extra strength in that area. So a good idea to at least get that on there.
In this picture, right in the center you can see the spring seats that have the tabs coming off them for a sway bar. You will need those and most likely don't have them if you don't have an anti sway bar. Normal spring seats don't have the tabs.
So you will have to pull your front springs - not a hard job other than undoing the big nut that holds it down - and remove the old spring seats and place those kind in there.
And find a front skid plate - it will already have the holes for the mounts.
On the back it's just a matter of clamping the bar to the rear diff and those 2 links will bolt to your frame - the holes are already there.
For anyone with a 4WD, you don't use those holes, there's a bolt on bracket on the bottom of the frame (the holes for those are there too) because a 4WD sits higher. Refer to BLDtruth"s diff swap picture above - you can see the brackets I mean on the bottom of his frame.
None of my Broncos, or any of the ones I've stripped or worked on, had the front bar mounted to that crossmember. But I haven't done much with '87-91s. '92-96 Broncos never got that front crossmember, so they couldn't be mounted that way.
And the '92-96 front frame horns aren't weak. This one didn't bend at all - it pushed the whole frame into a diamond, but that rail didn't bend.
well, no I don't think anything's going to help much if you run your truck into a cement wall at 50 mph. I was thinking more of frame flex incurred in day to day driving and cornering; in which case anything that connects the 2 frame rails together will help stiffen it up some. And since the truck most likely came with one, not having it in place would reduce it from how it was originally designed and engineered.
I am impressed that you can bend a steel engine skid plate with your bare hands though. I haven't actually tried it myself, but the skid plates I've got here look like they'd take pretty good effort to bend with just my hands.
The frame is designed to flex, and needs to, so stiffening doesn't help anything. But that little crossmember isn't strong enough to stiffen it. And it's not an "engine skidplate" - it's just a stamped flat crossmember/airdam/swaybar mount. Try just pushing on the middle with your hand - you'll see how flimsy it is.
And since his truck has neither that crossmember nor any sway bars, my bet is that it never had them, and they have nothing to do with his original concern. Sway bars have no effect on ride quality - only handling in the corners. He's worried about a soft ride.
His original concern was wanting to stiffen up the suspension. It's in his original post.
Sway bars stiffen up the suspension by reducing frame and body flex in turns. It's one of the best ways to "stiffen up" your suspension for street driving. Especially with new poly bushings.
Let's stop arguing semantics. Skid plate vs. crossmember. Steel tubes vs. steel bars. It doesn't help anyone.
03-05-2018, 01:22 PM
well, no I don't think anything's going to help much if you run your truck into a cement wall at 50 mph.
I was thinking more of frame flex incurred in day to day driving and cornering; in which case anything that connects the 2 frame rails together will help stiffen it up some. And since the truck most likely came with one, not having it in place would reduce it from how it was originally designed and engineered.
